


Trick or Treat

by Amorfati32



Category: The X-Files
Genre: F/M, Fluff, sickly sweet fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-27
Updated: 2017-12-27
Packaged: 2019-02-22 16:39:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,718
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13170933
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Amorfati32/pseuds/Amorfati32
Summary: Halloween fluff: Mulder receives an unexpected Trick or Treater





	Trick or Treat

Mulder stands in his living room, contemplating going out for a run when he hears a small knock at the door to his apartment. He waits, half wondering whether it’s his imagination when he hears the sound again, a little louder this time, though not by much. He wanders over to the front door and peers through the peephole but is unable to see his caller. Figuring it’s just someone playing tricks on him he pads back into his apartment, just as the knock comes yet again. Sighing, he walks back over to the door and opens it hurriedly with a view to giving the prankster a piece of his mind, when he suddenly stops, recognizing his young visitor. In front of him stands four year old Emily, dressed in a black sparkly leotard and black pants. A headband with ears attached sits in her strawberry blonde hair, a long, dangling tail is attached to her back and whiskers are painted on her rosy cheeks. He grins to himself. Emily loves to play dress up.

“Hey Em.” She looks adorable as a cat, he has to admit. “Whatcha doing?”

“I’m not Emily,” the little girl replies, deadly serious. “I’m a kitty cat, because I love kitty cats,” she adds, almost as an afterthought.

“Of course you are, silly me. You just reminded me of a little girl I know, that’s all.”

Unable to keep up the pretence any longer, Emily giggles, then glances back down the hallway. Mulder has a pretty good idea of who she’s looking at. After a moment and, Mulder presumes, some prompting, Emily speaks again. “Happy Halloween!”

He looks down and sure enough the little girl is holding a plastic cauldron, already full of candy bars. “Umm Halloween? Where’s your mom Em?”

Emily points to her left and Mulder peers out of the door to see his partner approaching, she too in costume.

“Ah Scully, I thought you were going to be dressed as a cat too,” he begins, as his partner comes to stand behind her daughter. His heart melts a little at the picture of mother and daughter together. “I personally would approve of you wearing nothing but a leotard this evening.” He shakes his head as he looks her up and down. “You’re cheating.” Scully is wearing green scrubs and a white coat, and a stethoscope hangs around her neck. “It’s not very inventive when you dress up as yourself.”

“I’m not a doctor, I’m a veterinarian,” replies Scully, a hint of amusement in her voice. “See?” She holds up the stuffed toy elephant she’s been carrying, which Mulder had presumed was for Emily. “A vet.”

“We couldn’t find a fox,” Emily says, giggling to herself.

“Emily wanted a cuddly fox for me to look after,” her mom explains.

“Because my name’s Fox and I’m cute and cuddly?”

“Because your name’s Fox and I’m always having to stitch you up.”

Mulder chuckles. “Kitty cats who hurl insults around don’t get candy.” Emily’s face immediately falls and she turns to look up at Scully for confirmation. “Except for the really cool ones. You’re in luck. Come on in short stuff. You too Em.”

“Ha-de-ha-ha,” Scully deadpans as she and Emily follow Mulder into his apartment. She closes the door behind her as Emily follows Mulder into the kitchen like a little girl on a mission. “Sorry to drop by unannounced,” she calls out, hearing the sound of Mulder rifling through cupboards. She enters the kitchen to see Emily now perched on the edge of the counter, looking on expectantly, while Mulder goes in search of candy. She smiles to herself. Sometimes she still feels like pinching herself to make sure she isn’t dreaming. Emily has been in her life for ten months now, since Scully’s memorable Christmas in San Diego with her family. Scully’s petition for custody had been a success and the adoption went through earlier this year. It’s been a testing time for them both, at least during the first few months, but the two of them have settled in to their new lives with one another, so much so that just a short while ago, Emily had started calling Scully “mom.” Now she does it without thinking. Mulder meanwhile has also become an important part of the little girl’s life. It helps, Scully often says, that he has a similar sense of humor to a four year old. “Happy Halloween…on the 2nd of November.”

Scully grins. “We’re a little late to the party, aren’t we baby?” She asks, walking over to her daughter and straightening Emily’s headband.

The little girl nods. “I was sick on Halloween,” she adds in a small voice.

Mulder nods. “Your mom told me. I was sorry to hear that.”

“I was too poorly to dress as a kitty cat.” She’d had a vomiting bug, which had kept her out of action over the past few days.

“But she’s feeling better now and didn’t want to miss out on the experience of trick or treating.”

“Or candy,” Emily added.

“Candy is an essential part of Halloween,” says Mulder, tickling the youngster as he moves to try another cupboard. “And I have some here with your name on it.”

“My name’s on it?”

He forgets that children often take things so literally. “Not quite. But there’s lots of it.” He’s a man of his word, and moments later retrieves several chocolate bars, candy and lollies from the cupboard. “Willy Wonka eat your heart out.”

Emily’s eyes light up, while Scully looks a little concerned. “There’s a lot there Mulder.”

“I can see that.”

“I’d like her to be able to make it to her fifth birthday without losing all of her teeth.”

“There’s a chance she’ll still have one or two.”

“Is that all for me?”

It’s worth it to see the look of delight on the little girl’s face. “Well, it’s for you and your mom,” Mulder explains. “Because she dressed up too. And if your mom can’t eat her share, I’ll happily help her out.”

“But you don’t have a costume,” protests Emily, reaching out to take a pack of twizzlers from Mulder under her mom’s watchful eye.

“And you young lady have already got too much candy for such a little girl.”

Emily nods, clearly proud of her haul. “We went to Grandma’s,” she giggles.

“This little lady wanted to show off her costume. Plus she knows my mom spoils her,” says Scully, as she watches Mulder place the rest of the loot into the cauldron. “She’s not the only one.”

“Hey it’s Em’s first real Halloween. Go big or go home, right?” he asks the little girl.

Emily’s smile vanishes. “I don’t wanna go home Mulder.”

“You’re not going home just yet.” Mulder glances over at Scully, wondering whether he’s been too presumptuous over her staying. Thankfully she doesn’t disagree.

“Can we do some more trick or treating?”

Glancing at her watch, Scully shakes her head. “It’s getting late sweetie, and remember what we talked about earlier? Not everyone has candy at home now. You can wear your costume until you go to bed though, and –”

“But…I…want…to…go…trick or tr….” The little girl’s bottom lip begins to tremble, and her eyes fill with tears. Mulder recognizes the signs that she’s just moments away from a meltdown. He’s only experienced one of Emily’s tantrums so far and it had certainly been memorable; the little girl throwing herself down on the floor of AD Skinner’s office when she’d been taken to meet him, refusing to leave until Scully had picked her up and carried her out herself.

Wanting to avoid a similar showdown, Mulder interrupts. “Maybe we could go to one more house?” he suggests. “It’s not far from here, and we don’t have to stay too long.”

Scully being Scully, looks skeptical, while Emily’s tears are soon forgotten. “Where?”

“You’re not going to like it.”

She already knows what he’s going to suggest. “Mulder….”

“The Gunmen.”

“No Mulder.”

“Come on! They have candy!”

“They also have a lot of…material…that isn’t suitable for a four year old. Not to mention the fact they’re not exactly big on hygiene. I’m pretty sure Emily could catch at least five diseases from sitting on their sofa alone.”

“I’ll call them now, give them the heads up. We’ll rush in, steal their chocolate bars and run out. You’ll be home in 40 minutes tops, plenty of time for bedtime.”

Scully looks as though she’s about to shoot down his suggestion, when a little voice speaks up. “Please mommy,” Emily whispers. She may only be four years old, but she’s already perfected her puppy dog look, and of course Scully hasn’t quite figured out how to say no to her daughter. “Alright,” she sighs, shaking her head at Mulder as though she can’t quite believe he’s talked her into it. “But call them now, tell them to tidy up and get rid of any x-rated material. And we’re not staying, we’re just using them for their junk food.”

“Yes dear.” He smiles as the glare she shoots him. “I’ll just grab my keys and then we’ll go. I’ll call them on the way.”

“Thank you Mulder,” says Emily, now back to her normal happy self. She wraps her arms around his torso and he quickly steadies her before she launches herself off of the counter.

“You’re welcome. You can pay me in Hersheys when we’re done.” He lifts her down onto the floor, then hands her the cauldron, smiling to himself when he notices it’s now too heavy for her to hold. “Maybe your mom should hold that.” He passes it to Scully, then realizes that Emily’s still staring up at him. “What’s up?”

“You need a costume.”

“I…what?”

“You can’t go trick or treating without a costume.”

“I’m just the driver.”

She shakes her head, not impressed with his explanation. “You need a costume.”

“She’s right,” says Scully with a smirk. “Where’s your costume Mulder?”

“I don’t have a costume,” he says. “I’m not dressing up.”

Emily steps in towards him, and wraps her arms around his legs. “Pleaassssse Mulder?”

He sighs. It seems that like his partner, Mulder hasn’t quite figured out how to say no to Emily either.


End file.
